"Such a freak," boomed an overwhelming male voice. "Pissing me off more every day."
"Shut up," screamed Umbra, but it wasn't Umbra. It was an earlier time, an earlier place. "Stop it!"
"What is this?" A new figure descended, silvery light banishing the nightmare elements away casually as Luna landed gently, looming over Umbra. "And who are you?"
Umbra fell back to all four hooves, heaving for breath she didn't even really have, not in a dream. "W-what?"
"That is what I asked." Luna smiled gently. "You were dreaming poorly, but your mind felt dark. I almost skipped over it, but thought better of it. Was I mistaken?"
"I... thanks?" She sank to her haunches, looking Luna over curiously. "I'm Umbra. Who are you?"
"Umbra." A little smile appeared on Luna's snout. "With Cadance? Crystal Empire?" When Umbra nodded, Luna clapped her hooves once. "Yes, I've heard of you. No wonder you seemed so dark. You are a shadow-magic user." She leaned in, still looming. "Traditionally quite vile and dangerous."
Umbra frowned at that. "That's not what I am."
"So I have heard." Luna nodded firmly. "Hero of the Crystal Empire. Friend of Cadance." She tapped her hooves with each fact. "Arcane artisan with a smile despite her dark origins. A curious pony you are, and clearly troubled with worrying dreams."
"I don't normally have dreams," grumped Umbra. "Maybe that nightmare attack hit me more than I wanted to admit."
Luna hiked a brow at that. "Nightmare attack?"
"A shadow creature." She put her hooves on her own chest. "Not me! A real jerk... He tried to attack me with nightmares, but I forced him back."
"Well fought." Luna's eyes wandered over Umbra. "Your self image is interesting."
Umbra looked down at herself, raising her legs one by one for an even better look. "I'm a pony?"
"You are, but more than that." Luna reached out, batting at the wafting bits of shadow magic that trailed from Umbra. "You are quite intimate with your shadowy nature, to start."
Umbra was quick to bat at Luna's shadowy tail, full of infinite stars and unknowable darkness. "As are you."
Luna's eyes constricted a fleeting moment. "We share... a little something. I watch over the night. I ensure the safe sleep of my subjects."
Umbra's ears perked. "I'd love to do that." From her memory, the bed appeared, the slumbering guard on it, shielded from nightmares with her blanket. "I'm letting him sleep!" she proudly claimed with a smile to go with it. Suddenly Umbra sat up. "Oh! Do you know sleeping shadow magic then? Show me!"
Luna curled a leg, pointing a hoof at Umbra. "I have heard tales, but not enough that I would surrender my secrets. The dream world is mine and mine alone at this time. To ask to walk them with me is quite the large request, little shadow pony." Despite her harsh words, a smile was forming. "But that you would eagerly rush to the defense of slumber is noted positively."
Umbra grinned up at the larger alicorn. "Thanks for the points at least. You feel... familiar. You sure you aren't shadow too?"
Luna flinched back. "The shadow has touched me, but in no kind way. I once let it take over, take root in jealousy. I almost... hurt a great deal, but mine sister took action before it went that far, and another, one you have met, held my hoof at bay until sense could return to me."
"No, I mean right now." Umbra hopped to her hooves. "I can feel it on you. You are a shadowy pony."
"I am the princess of the night."
"Sounds shadowy."
"It is not the same." Luna crossed her arms. "I am a guardian of slumber and rest."
Umbra stuck out her tongue in defiance. "That's just how you shadow. You're still shadowy. It's not like shadow has to be bad." She wobbled a hoof between herself and Luna. "We're both shadowy and good people."
Luna allowed a soft hum of thought. "Your words are not without some sense." She snuffled at Umbra. "Still, I would rather keep shadow distant from me, where I can. You, on the other hoof, stink of it."
"I am it." Umbra nodded with confidence. "And so are you, even if you don't like it. W--" She was cut off, a large silver-clad hoof on her snout.
"I feel certain you are trying to be encouraging." Luna leaned in, replacing the hoof with her own nose. "But we are not that familiar by far. I should continue my patrols. Other ponies have need of me. Be there any else you wish to discuss?" She spread her wings wide, ready to launch.
"Just one thing," Umbra hurried to get out. "We're being attacked, by shadows."
Luna smiled. "They are not all dangerous, I am told."
"Not funny." Umbra's ears pinned on her head. "These are very much not the nice kind. They locked someone in eternal nightmares." She pointed at the bed that was still in her dream. "And I get the feeling we'll... Can you help?"
Luna explosively snorted. "I will patrol the dreaming and do my best to banish the nightmares they may cause. But it will not be I who intercedes physically. Celestia has already dispatched her champions to assist you. Be ready for them. For now, fare well." She brought down her wings, lifting rapidly into the night sky. "I will be watching you." And Luna was gone.
"Not as helpful as I was hoping..."
Cadance could see the scowl on Umbra's face. "Have an unpleasant sleep?"
"Sure yeah... then Luna showed up."
Shining pricked his ears. "Did she have any news?"
Cadance thumped him for even asking. "She was there because of the poor sleep, I imagine."
"Mostly, yeah." Umbra poked at the food before her. "She did mention the 'champions' were coming. We have champions?"
Shining pointed across the table at Umbra. "Found one. "
"Ha Ha." Umbra speared the toast that seemed slathered in some kind of veggie spread, glistening with butter and... a mild dusting of cinnamon. "Besides me?"
Cadance nodded firmly. "Well, the last time we had major trouble, Auntie sent Twilight and her friends. Perhaps they're referring to them?"
Umbra imagined the collection of helpful mares. "Well... Sure, any help is good help, but how good are they at shadow creatures?"
Cadance sipped from her morning juice. "Well, their first claim to fame was handling the same one you ran into, when she was in a much more foul mood."
"She... what? She was a baddy?" Umbra struggled to imagine that gentle warden of the night being a threat. "She got a little grumpy when I tried to share her turf, but..."
Shining chuckled at the confusion. "She has come a long way since then. If you'd prefer, she started the work to prove that shadow doesn't have to be menacing."
"Well good!" Umbra pumped a hoof even as that toast floated into range of her teeth, allowing her to snap off a hunk to grind happily. "Mmm. So, are we going on the offense, or waiting for them to charge us?"
"We are safest here." Shining shrugged softly. "The heart's influence remains. You are protected by our connection." He waved vaguely, unable to see the link directly, but his glowing horn put a shield over both and took it away just as quickly, causing that faint prick of a sensation for both of the others. "Away from the heart, I can only imagine his attacks would be more worrying."
"That was him with a disadvantage!?" Umbra thumped the table with both hooves, which didn't stop her from getting another bite, that fork held in her magic. "He's toying with us."
"Umbra." Cadance had fixed her gaze on her shadowy friend. "I ask now that you not charge out there. I know that look. Shining's given it a few times. If you're alone, and something happens, nopony can help you."
"Yeah yeah." Umbra sank a bit in a pouty defeat. "Playing defense though..." She hopped down from her chair, the fork dropping with a clatter on the plate. "Gonna get back to building. Our patient alright?"
Shining quickly nodded. "I heard word he's sleeping peacefully, thanks to a certain somepony."
"Maybe he'll wake up..." But she was moving, away. She had work to do.
Four homes was about the right pace. Umbra and Shifting worked together to ensure they were physically sound, and the guild-ponies labored to bring it from 80% to 100%. Umbra watched them work with a smirk. "Even in a fantasy world, that last 20% always takes the longest..."
But it was a pace that the guild ponies kept up with. Each day had a different crew, rotating through the guild? Shifting nudged Umbra from the side. "You look distracted."
"I am super distracted," admitted Umbra without delay. She leaned in and down. "Don't tell anyone else," she insisted in a quieter tone. "But the city is under attack."
Shifting squeaked, a bat-like squeal, her wings flapping erratically without moving the rest of her. "Are you serious?" she asked in a harsh whisper. "I don't see anything." She looked around wildly for the enemy.
Umbra curled a hoof back at herself. "They're shadowy, like me, but, so far, way less nice about it. And they're, nng, dang it."
Shifting was quiet a moment before pawing at Umbra with a hoof. "Can I help?"
Umbra blinked at her friend. "My--" Her voice dipped to barely a whisper. "--love bug? I appreciate the thought, but I don't want you to just get hurt."
Shifting buffed her chest with a hoof. "Don't underestimate me! I'm a master spy." She glanced left and right. "I am living right in a city that'd want me... not here, if they knew..."
"These things..." Umbra shuffled, digging at the ground. "They are not normal."
"Neither are we." Shifting extended her pointed tongue. "Show me what they look like, um, later." She resumed her bright smile, watching the guild ponies work. "For now, we build!"
"We build," echoed Umbra, her own smile returning.
"Did you kiss yet?" Cadance fluttered her lashes. "Did you hide it?"
"No," grunted Shining with undisguised annoyance. "We're focused on a little problem, if you forgot."
Cadance let out a little sigh. "Yeah... I was trying... I can't do anything about that. I'd rather think about silly ponies making kissy faces." Her wings fidgeted on her back. "Why, do you have an idea of what can be done? It's a miracle they haven't attacked any civilians so far."
"Worrying, more like." Shining looked to the nearest window, though that was across the room. "They clearly have access to do so, if they wanted."
"If the heart repels them, perhaps I could help." Cadance tapped at her own chest. "I am tied to it."
"So am I." Shining shrugged softly. "How does that help?"
"Not in the same way." Cadance skewed an ear. "I am it." She pointed back at her cutie mark. "I can echo it, to a degree. You, my lovely stallion, are a protector. Umbra... is confusing."
Shining burst into laughter at that. "True statement, but if you could stop bothering her."
"I am not bothering her!" She brought her wings back in tight. "She's off building, isn't she?"
"You just asked me if I kissed her." Shining rolled a hoof. "She has the crystal heart on her rump too. Why couldn't she 'echo' it?"
Cadance's brows raised as one. "That, dear hubby, is actually a very good question. My instinctive answer being 'she never tried'. Perhaps it's time to change that." She stood up. "And I can think of no other pony better equipped." She marched from the room, determined to do her part.
Shining looked less confident. "At least she's facing you directly." He renewed his promise not to bother the brave pony that was helping them. "Back to work." He went to rejoin the patrols.